No Name Girl
by Extraterrestrial
Summary: PG13 for language and described violence. Rin's family is killed in a tragic accident that she can't even remember happening. 2 years after the fact, she's shipped to Georgia, where an unsuspecting family recieves her with notsoopen arms.
1. Unsolved Murder

_Disclaimer: _Don't own the characters; probably never will. They're Rumiko Takahashi's and hers alone.

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**No-Name Girl**

**Chapter 1**

Rin walked down the street, thinking of her life. She didn't know anything was wrong with it; she thought she was average and that the few people she was friends with had weird families. She didn't know she was the weird one, but she had considered the possibility before. Never seriously, but a consideration nonetheless.

_She_ thought her life was perfect, or close to it. She loved her mother and father, and her brother was even pretty cool sometimes. Her mother showed she cared by her worry (about what, Rin wasn't sure) and her father just didn't wear his heart out on his sleeve, he just hid his feelings because of how he had been raised. Her brother may have looked like a "Goth," but he was really quite kind and caring, though sometimes morose and dark in his philosophical thinking.

As soon as she stepped into her house, she knew something was wrong. All was eerily silent, and an odd smell hung over her head. _It's never silent_, Rin thought confusedly.

"Mom?" she called out. "Dad?" She started toward the kitchen, but stopped. The kitchen looked different… Somehow… There was blood on the walls… "Mom?" she asked again, this time quieter. Another step forward and she saw a surprised look on the blood-covered face of her mother. "Dad?" She didn't need to step forward further to feel he was dead, too. "No…" she saw someone run out the back door. Her brother? She stepped quickly toward the kitchen.

Her brother wasn't there… A gun sat on the floor next to her father, but too far to have been in his hand. She dropped to her knees, thinking her brother—her kind, quirky, laughing, older brother—had done this. But he couldn't do this, could he? _No_, she tried reassuring herself, _he couldn't._ Then she saw the silent screams trapped on her mother and father's faces and gagged. _Oh gods…_

She was in a daze as she walked to her room and picked up the phone. The ringing sounded as if it came through cotton balls. It stopped suddenly. "Hello," she heard in the distance, "you've reached '911,' what's the emergency?" the woman sounded bored. She stayed silent, but someone spoke for her. Through her.

"They're dead. He killed them. They died…" She wasn't sure how, but now she noticed that she held the gun in her hand. She hung up the phone as the operator started forwarding the call. It seemed only seconds to Rin, but the hours passed, one as the next, as the police and firefighters and ambulances showed up. She was in a stupor as they asked her, uselessly, for information on the killer, the murder, what she saw, who's gun it was. All she would say was, "They're dead. He killed them. They died. Blood. Blood everywhere. Oh god, it was terrible."

The blur of her being taken to a hospital to check for multiple different things was not remembered the next morning. The only thing she remembered from the day before was waking up. No more, no less. She was screaming when she awoke; from a nightmare, it seemed. Her family was dead. She had a gun. But of course that wasn't true. Her family was still alive and she had no gun (this had taken many hours of pulling and coaxing by the various policemen and women and hospital staff.) Then she saw the room she was in.

A grimy half-white bed covered in stains of unknown origin held her and the room she sat in had an identical paint on the wall and a mirror. Where was her bed? Where was her mother? Her father? Her brother? She called out their names to the walls. The unhearing walls and deaf floor and silent ceiling. All was unhearing except for the mirror. Well, not the mirror, but what was behind it.

"She doesn't remember what happened yesterday at all," a woman in a white lab coat told a woman in a dark blue business suit. "She doesn't know her family is dead. Her brain just won't accept her family's death through the hands of a murderer. You know they believe it was her brother? I had heard he was a psychopath or something and made up stories about their dad beating them and their mom hiding it. A 1-2 operation of sorts."

"What will happen to her?" Business Suit asked.

"We'll lie. We always do in cases like this. They got into a car accident while she was out and they all three died. Drunk driving can do horrible things," Ms. Psychiatrist added in a conspiratory tone.

"Won't she figure it out after a while though?" Ms. Suit said.

"Not if no one tells her."

"Where will she live?"

"Who knows?"

"So she won't learn what happened."

"Yes; we believe that if she doesn't learn what happened, she'll be better off."

"So you say," Ms. Suit said quietly, turning toward the exit.

_2 years later…_

Rin walked through the airport, looking for the newest set of victims she was to live with. A Higurashi family, if she remembered correctly. There was a boy about her age, and older sister (how much older she wasn't sure,) a mother, and a grandfather. She looked again at the reference picture in her hand. They seemed innocent enough. _It'll be fun to play with this one,_ she thought about the boy. She looked up at the signs that pointed to baggage claim and followed them, walking quickly in knee-high boots with a chunky heel and a long black zipper.

She finally reached her destination, after much jostling, and slowly pushed her way forward to grab her two suitcases. One almost passed her, beat up and worn with the frequency of moving. It had paint on it proclaiming "Rin _smudge"_ because as soon as she had started going to foster families, she had smudged out her own last name. Forgetting the past was so much easier than reliving it. Now she just had someone from the family sign the bag as she passed through.

She heaved the larger bag off the rotating belt and pushed her way back out of the crowd, cringing with every implication of physical contact. She reached the edge of the crowd and searched the faces. A few passed over her, either not seeing her or grimacing at her attire. Ripped up black stretch pants, low cut because of the weight loss she'd had in the past two years, and a faded and torn FBI hoodie with her thumbs coming out where the sleeves intersected the wrists.

She saw a family step uncertainly forward toward her, seeming to be hers. They looked enough like them. She smiled, almost menacing with the deep indigo lipstick, thick eyeliner, and matching purple eye shadow. She grabbed her bags by their handles and readjusted her purse/backpack on her shoulder. Her flame decorated boots poked out from the legs of her pants. They had sunk lower on her hips since she had last worn them.

Upon finding that this was, indeed, her family, she started in on the boy. He looked shy enough, but he was 15, so he couldn't be all too shy. She couldn't stand how innocent they all looked. The mother wore a humble—homely even—dress, the boy wore a blue sweater vest with brown shorts, the daughter a white button-up blouse and green skirt. And they all smiled. It was a sickly sweet one, like eucalyptus cough drops.

"So…" the boy started nervously, "how many homes have you lived in?" The mother shot him a glance and his sister elbowed him. Rin shrugged it off.

"It's alright," she assured them. "I think your house is number… 5? Or is it 6? I've been in enough to think I probably won't be staying long. I never do." The family seemed to be troubled at this. She thought they assumed she would do something illegal. Drugs, prostitution, or the sort. Not that they were all wrong on the last one. To their relief, she tried changing the subject. "So, I heard there was a grandfather in the family. Where is he?" The mother looked dismayed at the question.

"He's at home preparing a 'welcome here' dinner for you," she said as she looked Rin up and down with a grimace. "We were hoping you wouldn't be too tired to eat." She tried to be polite, and Rin smiled. She had come halfway across the country for a good family, at least. "It's going to be a little formal, so I hope you didn't pack your best dress in the bottom of your bag." She made a small, nervous laugh and the kids laughed a little with her. They looked as if she had just worn them out with that joke.

"I didn't," Rin smiled. "In fact, I think I packed a good dress very close to the top; one of those things you grab last, you know?" she added. She acted hospitably in case she needed to impress these people; just because she knew she was going to have to leave didn't mean she had to bring it upon herself faster.

And maybe she actually wouldn't have to leave for once. Just maybe she could stay here for a while. Maybe… but she would be fooling herself to believe that. She knew that. Besides, why would she want to stay here anyway? She hopped into the back of the mother's forest green van (it seemed as innocent as the family themselves) and proceeded to stare out the window. The girl tried small talk first.

"So where are you from?" Kagome asked politely. A little twang rang in her voice. Not too much, but enough to be noticed.

"Not too far; I lived in Alabama before my family died. Nasty wreck, too." She didn't see the brother and sister look uneasily from one to another as they laughed nervously.

"Really? We lived there a few years. Where'd you live?" They continued to ask mind-numbing questions like these, making small talk somewhat fearfully. What states had she lived in? What schools had she gone to? Had she had any boyfriends? Was she still a vir— Had she ever been kissed? (The question had changed at a violent nudge from Kagome towards Sota.)

"So why've you lived in so many houses?" Sota blurted out before Kagome could elbow him. She kicked him and muttered "idiot" under her breath. Rin smiled at this; she and her brother may have never done that, but she had loved him just the same.

"It's alright," she reassured them. "Nobody wants somebody whose family died; nobody wants a teenager most times. Especially not families who have a chance to get a baby." She looked back out the window and then added, "Besides, I'm not exactly the 'Good Witch' Glenda, if you haven't noticed." They eyed her carefully, not sure what to say. No one said anything, and for that Rin was glad.

The car pulled along a gravel driveway and a decrepit house appeared in Rin's vision. Well, decrepit wasn't the right word. It was more… dead… looking. The shutters hung crookedly with cracked paint that had to be 50 years old by now; the door looked about to fall off its hinges. She scrutinized the house, thinking that couldn't be the house she was to live in. And then she saw the next house and thought maybe she was wrong.

A sprawling country manor with an old-world elegance stood tall in her vision. A large front yard with a long driveway lined by trees and shrubs. Windows stared out at her blankly, all except for one. The vision of a young woman looked majestically out at her. Suddenly she was called back into the real world by something the mother said.

"They say the house is haunted by the ghost of a young maiden," she said amiably. "She was a huntress. The men and women alike respected her for both her great beauty and her great wisdom. She outsmarted foxes and outran deer, if the story is true, and supposedly she haunts the East Wing. They s—"

"There's an East Wing?" Rin said in shock. This place was huge.

"Yes," she replied, pleased the girl was interested, "there's also a West Wing, but the old wine cellar has been blocked off. The structure wasn't stable." Rin looked back at the window, but the girl was gone. It looked as though she had never even been there. "But back to the story. They say that she died in a fire in a room in the east wing a hundred years ago. They found an odd skeleton with her; the old newspapers said it had been a dragon, but who's to believe that nonsense, hm?"

"Nonsense, yes," Rin agreed. "What did you say the girl looked like?"

"Young girl, probably about your age, with long straight black hair. And she had eyes like a deep well. People said you could fall into them at just one glance."

Funny thing was that was the girl Rin had seen in the window. Rin had seen a ghost and now she was going to be living in close quarters with them. With her.

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_A/N:_ Ok… So it's more topics I really have no experience with, but I still relate a little because I've moved a lot. Seems like it'll be mushy, you know? Girl gets orphaned, girl finds likable family, girls finds flaw, blah blah blah. But it won't. It'll probably be my least happy story so far. I actually had this written on paper and was going to change it only a little bit, but then tangent time came and I couldn't stop myself. So, here it is.


	2. Sneaking Out

_Disclaimer:_ I own the story, but not the characters in it. Go fucking figure.

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No-Name Girl

Chapter 2

_100 years ago… _

A girl sat in her room in the manor her parents owned. Outside the house, men and women played croquet and gossiped about neighbors and family. They joked easily and took each other's arms in their own. She felt like crying. Half of the men had no woman attached to them, and she knew the reason why. She didn't want to sound egotistical, but it was hard when she had so many well-known suitors.

Her dress rustled as she stood looking in the mirror. Mother wanted her to look just right for her party. She turned fifteen today, a prime age for getting married. She heard her mother yell up the stairs.

"Midoriko!" Footsteps followed the voice. "Midoriko," she yelled again, more out of breath. "Midoriko, it's time for you to go down to your party." She looked at her daughter's forlorn face and softened. She was still breathing heavily and beads of sweat dotted her upper lip. "You'll be fine, honey. They'll all love you." She smiled comfortingly at her daughter. Midoriko's face hardened, but she said nothing. To disrespect one's parents was impolite.

"Yes, ma'am," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm sure they will. Do you think you could send Mamoru up, please, Mother?" Her mother smiled approvingly that her daughter wanted her best friend right now. She nodded and walked briskly out of the room, but not before making sure Midoriko knew she had to be down in a few minutes.

"What in seven hells do you want, Midoriko?" It may have sounded cruel and unladylike, but for Mamoru, it was a sign of affection. She saw her friend and looked concernedly at her. "What is it, huh?" She kneeled on the floor next to where her friend sat and began playing with a ribbon on one side of the dress.

"I don't want them to love me," she said. Mamoru nodded. "I want them all to go away. Why can't they go away?"

"Because you're beautiful, clever, well brought up, and a great hunter. What man doesn't want a wife who he can brag about?" Her friend smiled, showing that the last part had been a joke. "You're also very, very rich."

"We can't practice anymore if I get married. You know that." Mamoru nodded solemnly. "I may never see you again."

"I know," she said quietly. "But we can have one last night before you get married. For now, you just have to go down there and make friends. Besides, my lady," she said, holding out her arm, "your suitors await." She cocked an eyebrow and laughed quietly as Midoriko took her arm. They talked all the way toward the yard and Mamoru stepped out right before Midoriko. She couldn't help herself though. "The lady of the party arrives," she yelled to everyone at the party, catching their attention.

* * *

_Present day…_

Rin had decided on a wine-red dress for the welcoming party. (Blood-red just shouldn't be thought around this family) She stepped into the dining room with Rin and Sota, who couldn't help trying to slip his arm around her waist when his mother hadn't yet arrived. When his hand tried slipping down, she slid away unnoticeably to all but her and the boy. The mother walked in from the left and the grandfather was still a no-show. When Ms. Higurashi caught sight of Rin in her knee-length halter dress with an asymmetrical skirt, she gasped.

The seating arrangement included Kagome and Rin on one side of the table and Sota on the other, with the mother and grandfather at the heads. When Kagome and Sota reached for her hands across and next to her, she gave them a confused look. "It's prayer," Kagome helpfully said. Rin laughed nervously and grabbed their hands. After a lengthy prayer from the mother, the grandfather finally emerged, tray in hand.

The look on his face changed only slightly when he saw the newest addition to the family, but he kept his composure. Rin only sat up straighter. He set the tray down in the middle of the table and took his place at the head of the table. Something about him called for respect and a bit of skepticism about anything he said. And then she saw the tray. It looked fancy except for one thing.

On the tray was fried chicken and fried green tomatoes and fried okra. Rin smiled nervously and waited for a sign that it was safe to grab food. When Kagome and Sota grabbed some chicken for themselves, Rin picked her plate up toward the tray and grabbed some for herself. This was going to be awkward, she could tell. She scooped up some okra and tomatoes, even though she didn't care for either, and pulled her plate back toward herself.

"So," the grandpa started, "you're Rin?" She was not allowed to be sarcastic. _Respect your elders, Rin_, she reminded herself. _Respect your goddamn elders_.

"Yes sir," she said quietly, pushing food around her plate.

"So how old are you, Rin?" he asked somewhat loudly. No one else was speaking.

"I'm fifteen and a half," she replied just as quietly. _Respect… respect…_

"Oh? So you should be getting your license soon, correct? And you already have a permit, I would guess," he said somewhat judgmentally.

"Yes, sir." The rest of the dinner went along about the same; the grandfather asking questions and her answering as honestly as was safe. Soon enough, she had picked through as much of her dinner as she could stand, and excused herself. "The dinner was wonderful, Mr. Higurashi." He nodded his thanks and she took her plate into the kitchen, offering to help anyone else with their plates. She noticed easily when Kagome followed her in.

"You know, I think he might actually like you," the girl whispered in a conspiratory tone. "But don't let him know I think that. Mom seems to be less than excited though. You'll want to avoid her." Then Kagome helped her clean the dishes and somehow through that, the girls made some odd connection. Kagome may have been older than her, but she was still very similar to Rin somehow.

"Why wouldn't your mom like me?" Rin asked curiously, but still whispering. The apron only slightly covered up the dress she wore. Kagome looked her up and down with a funny look and Rin understood. "Ok, I get it. I'm not exactly something you bring home to show off, but it's still a question of how. I'm not rude, I don't whore myself out, and I'm not pure Satanic evil."

"You're just not… I don't know… You're not her, and she's always wanted a daughter who was just like her." Kagome seemed to scrub harder at the plate she held. Rin understood completely now.

"Believe me, if that first impression I got is how your mom truly is I could never be her. I'll let you know that right now." Both girls were quiet for sometime. Then Rin said, "I'm thinking of looking around the house tonight once your mom and grandpa are asleep. Maybe even go for a walk. Wanna come?" Kagome looked surprised, then scared, but interest showed in her eyes the entire time.

"Are you nuts? Mom would kill me!" She seemed to pause to consider something. "But she is a heavy sleeper, and it is a big house… An old house… How would we get out?" Rin seemed to have been waiting for this question the entire time. She smiled maniacally.

"Well, since you asked… Why don't you just meet me in my room right before midnight tonight? If you want to come, that is. If you don't, you can just come some other time. But remember that you need to be quiet." Kagome nodded and they finished the dishes quickly. Rin walked out into the hall and Kagome was to the stairs when Rin heard yelling. A woman's voice. The mother. She motioned that she would be up in a minute; Kagome could go ahead.

"Did you see that dress? I can't believe she thought that would be acceptable! It was barely above her knee!" The woman's voice yelled. She figured out quickly that this conversation was about her. "And the nerve! She didn't let any of us talk at dinner, either!"

The grandfather's voice was much calmer. "I thought she was rather nice, Kat. She was polite, she didn't interrupt, and she helped clean. Without us having to ask her too. I think that she's a lovely girl—"

"YOU THINK SHE'S LOVELY?!" Her voice boomed. Then her voice quieted, even though it was still angry. "That little slut is trying to seduce you. She wore a skirt that showed off thigh when she sat down! I can't believe… How could… Agh!" Rin saw the mother throw her hands up in her mind, and hurried up the stairs so she could be halfway up by the time the mother came to talk to anybody upstairs. In her room by the time she got to anyone's room.

She sat in her room moments later, wishing there were some way to cry. She hadn't cried at her family's funeral. It had been a closed casket; she guessed that they had been badly burned or something. She looked through her bag and found her sketchbook. The goddess of war and of wisdom took only one page, but it was still unfinished. She turned to the next page. Soon a thin girlish character in fishnets and a black pouf dress took up the center of the page. She held a hooked scythe in front of her, almost innocently.

Death. It had always been an odd backhanded interest of Rin's. It was a part of life and to be accepted, so she always wondered why anyone feared it. They had no reason to; it was only a new beginning. To some, Rin's interest had become almost an obsession. She almost seemed to emulate it, or tried to meet it. She had never tried to commit suicide, but she had done stupid things that could've ended up with her dead. Sneaking out, for one. Now that the picture had been sketched out, Rin changed into a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. As soon as she was going to sneak out, she would change into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

The door opened without warning and Rin whirled to see who it was. Ms. Higurashi stood there, partially flushed from running to Kagome and Sota's rooms before Rin's. "Hello, Rin," she started, then caught a glimpse of the half hidden picture under her pillow. "What's that?" she asked suspicious and curious. "Do you like to draw?"

"Uh, yes ma'am," she said quickly, while closing her sketchbook and shoving it roughly into her bag. "But it's nothing important. I'm not all that good; nothing I'd brag about." She stumbled through hiding death's picture and her interest. Soon, Ms. Higurashi had wished her good night and told her lights out and Rin was free. She let a sigh escape her lips. She flipped on a flashlight and held it in her mouth to finish her picture.

Almost too soon, she was finished with the line work, but not the inking; she could do that later. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was 11:30. She should be ready if Kagome came and got dressed by 11:40. She would give the girl until 12:05 to get here, and if she wasn't here by then she would leave. She opened her window to adjust to the night air. She grabbed a switchblade from the pocket of her pants from the night before and put it in the waist of her pants.

She now wore a pair of black stretch pants and a long-sleeved black shirt. A trench coat hung on her door in case it was cold enough. She stood by the open window to test the temperature and found it cool enough to keep her awake and not too cool to freeze her. She wouldn't need her trench tonight. She heard a quiet knock on her door and moved silently to open it. She stood behind the door and opened it.

"Hello?" a voice said tentatively. Kagome's voice, she realized. Rin relaxed and stepped out from behind the door, pausing when she saw Kagome's outfit. She had obviously never done this before. She still wore her pajamas: a button up blue satin-y shirt and matching pants. Rin looked her up and down thoughtfully and nodded. She walked over to her suitcase and grabbed an old pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt that looked like they might fit the older girl well. They were almost too small for Rin, but she figured she was probably bigger than Kagome was. "What's this for?" she asked confusedly.

"Because you've pretty obviously never done this before and need something that's not quite that easy to see." She directed the girl to change as she turned away. She may have been an amateur, but she did have guts. In fact, she had enough guts to go on a midnight walk with Rin, a dangerous looking girl. Rin had to find out. "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, tapping Rin on the shoulder to show she could turn around. The girl's pajamas lay on the floor inches away from her feet.

"Why are you sneaking out with me?"

"Because I think it might be fun. It's different than what I would usually think safe to do. Why?"

"Because most people would be too scared to. I guess that's a good enough reason. Come on." She waved the girl toward the open window. "Too late to chicken out now," she said smiling and stepped through the window.

* * *

_A/N:_ Please R&R if you read. I would like to know if I suck serious ass or not. Anyways… Okay, there is one topic this time that I have some experience with. Betcha can't guess what it is… Uh… Yeah… So I sneak out once in a while. Who cares? It's illegal here, which makes it all the more interesting. ANYWAYS… Review, blah, blah, blah, etc. Tell me if you want to hear more of this story. 


	3. Wisdom Isn't Just for Old People

Disclaimer: Why do I really have to do this every time I write a fan fiction? I suppose if I am going to write, they're going to force me to. Well, I don't own these characters. Obviously. Goodnight…

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* * *

**

No-name Girl

**Chapter 3**

_

* * *

Present Day…_

Rin crept along the roof, blending into the shadows well; Kagome crept more hesitantly a few feet behind. She cast a sidelong glance at her newest friend here and waited to let her catch up before she climbed down the wooden criss-cross fence. She gestured to it and Kagome went down first. Rin followed very soon after. Then she handed something to the girl and whispered,

"Here. For protection." Kagome felt the object and quite suddenly realized it was a switchblade. "I have one for myself. As long as I'm here, you should keep it. Especially if you'll be coming with me on my nightly adventures." Kagome nodded invisibly and made herself say something in the affirmative when she felt that the girl was waiting. "Come on now; wouldn't want to miss the show." '_Show?' _Kagome thought to herself. _What show? _She didn't remember anything about a show.

Rin led her along multiple pathways to a hidden place in the front yard and pointed to something above them both. "It's starting," she said and Kagome looked up. Above her a comet had streaked only a moment before and others were beginning to travel in its path. "See those? Those are my friends. The only friends I've ever made till I got here. Now you can join them; become a shooting star all by yourself in a group of many."

Kagome scoffed at this logic, but kept it in her mind. She may some day want to use this phrase with her children. It was insightful but it made sense only in the mind of Rin. Well, for a while that's the only mind it would make sense in. "You know," Kagome started, "you're a lot different from most of the people I know. Smarter, deeper. Like you've been here longer. But I'm older than you… how can that be?"

"I've been through some things that you haven't been through. Just like you've been through things I haven't. We're the same and we're different. Polar opposites. But without one, we could not be the other." Rin smiled. She knew Kagome would understand that. Somehow she knew. Kagome looked at the comets streaking by and knew that Rin had not been lying; she was up in those comets with the rest of the girl's friends. And she knew she stood out from the rest through only a slight difference.

_

* * *

100 years ago…_

Midoriko and Mamoru walked out into the yard, arm in arm. Midoriko looked around for someone vaguely her age coming toward them and Mamoru looked for anyone too much older coming toward them. Both seeing none of what they were looking out for, the walked along the gardens, stopping every now and then to smell a rose or pluck a daffodil. By the time they had circled around the garden once, each had a bouquet of mixed flowers; daisies, October pinks, pansies, and (obviously) daffodils chief among both.

Soon Mamoru noticed what Midoriko had been looking for. A handsome young man of about 19, maybe 20, walked briskly toward them. He held his hands behind his back in military posture and held his chin raised in a gesture of high society. Dark wisps of hair fell out of their gelled-back placement only because of the summer heat and bounced in small scattered pieces over his forehead. Mamoru brought Midoriko's attention to the man.

"Me-ow… Look at that piece of flesh, Midi," she said whilst yanking her friend's arm a little roughly toward the man. When Midoriko looked up from the rosebush, it took all her self-control to keep from gaping. Who was this gorgeous man and where did he come from? He stood in front of her and bowed lightly, extending his hand.

"May I have a dance with the lady of honor?" He said, a slight Carolina accent tumbling from his lips. Midoriko nodded dumbly and took his hand graciously. He led her toward the cleared area of grass near the band. About halfway through dancing, an older man with a cane walked up, led by Midoriko's mother, and extended his hand. He cleared his throat.

"May I intrude?" He said suavely. He smiled and all teeth showed in between his thin lips. He had a rather English accent and Midoriko accepted only because her mother was there. The young soldier (she had learned that he was in the military whilst dancing with him) went to sit at a table placed conveniently outside for those tiring and watched the dance. Midoriko only knew this because she watched him the entire time. Midi looked down at her feet when the dance was done and curtsied like a good little girl was supposed to. The older man smiled.

"Miss Hashutei, I was just wondering if you would like to attend a ball with me a few nights from now. I would be greatly honored if you would join me." Midi looked into the man's eyes and smiled insincerely. She told him she would have to think about it, but could she please be excused a moment to go refresh herself in the powder room.

Walking into the small mirrored powder room on the bottom floor of the manor, Midi took a deep sigh and spoke. "I don't know what to do," she said to her mirror self, not looking up. "I don't _want_ to marry some old windbag of a duke… But I have a duty to my family… And then there's… that…" she slowed as she looked up into the mirror to see the face of the captain staring back at her. She turned quickly, only to be caught by his handsome and clever charm once again.

"Don't stop on my behalf; please do continue. I find this quite interesting," he said, smirking. He stood and continued, "But if it's advice you're looking for, then I'll offer you some of mine: Don't do something for the sake of your family's name if it pains you. It will only end with everyone getting hurt." He walked over to her, standing close and looking down into her big green eyes. "On the other hand, if you really want to marry someone you love, be careful how you do it. It could cost you more than just your heart to do so."

Suddenly, she felt the light touch of his hand on the small of her back through her dress and jumped. "This could cause a scandal if anyone saw us," she whispered quickly. He leaned down closer, breathing each word on her lips.

"Yes, it could. But what if they don't," he whispered. Then he kissed her.

_

* * *

Present Day… _

The next morning, Rin was up bright and early while Kagome stumbled into the dining room for breakfast. Kagome's mother immediately noticed this change from her daughter's usual demeanor and seemed worried.

"Kagome? Are you okay? You look ill," she said, walking over and placing her hand on her daughter's forehead and cheeks. "Hm… No fever… Did you have a nightmare, honey? You look dead tired." Kagome shook her head and immersed herself into the task of eating her Cheerios. Ms. Higurashi cast her daughter one more worried glance and then, "Well… Rin, would you like something to eat for breakfast?" The girl only shook her head and explained.

"I've never been a breakfast eater, Ms. Higurashi. Thanks for offering though." She proceeded to get a glass of milk and downed it in mere seconds, then was gone through some other part of the house. _How does she do that? _Kagome thought absently. _I mean… We were out till God only knows when and she's freaking perky._ She played with her milk when she was finished, then poured it into the sink. Letting out a yawn, she walked through the living room to see her brother flipping through the early morning news when a broadcast struck her.

"_A family in East Cobb was found murdered today—" _Flip. Flip.

"Wait, Sota! Go back, go back, go back!" She wrestled the remote from him and flipped back to catch the end of the broadcast.

"_The murderer is still at large, but witnesses say they saw a tall, slim man leave the house around 3 AM this morning— _She flipped to another news channel.

"_A tragedy that occurred in this small, quiet suburban community in East Cobb this morning. A family of four was found murdered in the early hours by a maid coming in for her shift. A daughter, a son, and their two parents were brutally stabbed and then shot through the head—" _Click. Kagome turned to see her mother standing with the universal remote in hand.

"It's too early to be watching that… that type of news. Besides, Rin is still to be treated as part of the family and we're not supposed to let her watch anything about murder." Her mother's face was set and she did not like it. Something about this murder was familiar somehow. She knew Rin had nightmares (she had told her last night) but that didn't seem enough to stop them from watching the news.

"Yes ma'am," Kagome grumbled before finishing getting ready. As she walked upstairs, she spied Rin sitting in an old sewing room. She continued walking past, paying no attention to the girl. When she came back, Rin was still sitting there. "Hey," she said. Rin, startled, looked up. She had been drawing, Kagome noted. "Do you need a ride to school?" Rin nodded dumbly; it was amazing that this had been the very girl who just last night had showed _her_ more wisdom than she could possibly imagine.

The ride to school was quiet except for the music. Rin had brought one of her CDs and popped it in. Something loud and screaming and throbbing had burst out of the speakers. It was like an open wound just healed over; you had to pick and pick at the scab and, because of that, it healed slowly. This music banged inside Kagome's small car and she winced every time they screamed louder. It didn't seem to bother Rin. She was looking calmly out the window.

Kagome turned the knob on the music down and Rin looked over. "So you seem to get along… well… with my mother." She said hesitatingly. Rin didn't say anything. "You're not a charity case, you know. Mom actually thought she wanted another girl to take care of. She probably didn't think she would treat you like she does."

"Personally," Rin said in such a quiet voice it seemed almost a lone cricket's chirping, "I think your mom… needs to chill. She's a bitch to you. And to your grandfather. And she dotes too much on your brother." Then Rin was silent for a moment, thinking. "She wants you to live the life she never got to as a child. That's why she got me, if you think about it. She thought, 'Hey, maybe I'll get lucky and get a daughter who will act how I want her to,' and then applied to be a mother. She didn't think about how few people are like that in foster care. And if they are, they're more messed up than me."

"I… guess she does," Kagome started, stammering. "I think I never noticed. I grew up with it, you know?" Rin nodded wisely as they turned into the school parking lot.

"I know. But sometimes," she said, "it takes some outside insight to shed light on inside problems." Right then, Kagome stopped the car and Rin jumped out, leaving her staring at the steering wheel. She knew the girl was right. And she knew it had to stop. Soon.

* * *

A/N: Well, isn't that lovely? I see not many people commented on chapter 1 or 2. Guess it wasn't popular, huh? Oh well. As long as I continue posting, someone's bound to see it and get the message. 


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